Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping affirmed the strength of bilateral relations and strategic coordination between their countries on Wednesday, less than a week after US President Donald Trump’s visit to China.
This came during Xi’s reception of Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where the two leaders held a summit focused on a number of international issues, including Trump’s recent visit to Beijing, the war in the Middle East, energy cooperation, and the challenges facing the international order.
During the talks, Putin hailed “strong, positive” momentum in cooperation between Russia and China, saying, “Even amid unfavorable external factors, our cooperation and economic cooperation is showing strong, positive momentum.”
Putin said that relations between their two countries have reached an “unprecedentedly high level”. “Today our relations have reached an unprecedentedly high level, serving as a model of truly comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation,” Putin told Xi.
Xi told the Russian leader that Beijing and Moscow have “continuously deepened our political mutual trust and strategic coordination with a resilience that remains unyielding.”
Regarding developments in the Middle East, Xi said further hostilities in the Middle East is “inadvisable”, calling for a “comprehensive” ceasefire after Trump threatened to resume strikes against Iran, state media reported.
“A comprehensive ceasefire is of utmost urgency, resuming hostilities is even more inadvisable and maintaining negotiations is particularly important,” Xi told Putin, according to Xinhua news agency. (AFP)
